Amid leaden wintry skies , it may come as a surprise to Londoners but new figures suggest the city has beaten its arch rival , Paris , to become the world 's most popular city for tourists .

However , a growing spat between the the two cities ' administrations suggests that , when it comes to comparisons between London and Paris , there are only lies , damn lies and statistics .

Figures released this week by the UK 's Office for National Statistics show that 4.9 million people visited London from July to September 2013 .

That was an increase of 20 % on the same period in the previous year -- during which London hosted the Olympics -- and a new quarterly record .

Taking a wider view , for the first nine months of 2013 , 12.8 million visitors flocked to the British capital , an increase of 12 % compared with the previous year .

The figures prompted the city 's promotional body , London and Partners , to proclaim that London was `` on course to welcome over 16 million visitors in one year . ''

That in turn has led to reports in Britain and abroad that London has trumped Paris as the most visited city in the world .

The two cities have actually swapped the top spot on various lists in recent years .

According to the MasterCard Global Destinations Cities Index for 2012 , London narrowly beat out Paris for the top spot with 16.9 million visitors .

` Greatest city on the planet '

For the mayor of London , Boris Johnson , the statistics only underlined the obvious .

`` These incredible figures prove that London is without doubt the greatest city on the planet , '' he said .

`` With so many fascinating museums , the best theater scene in the world , more green space than any other European city , numerous top sporting venues , a low crime rate and much else besides , it 's no wonder that people from all over the globe are flocking to London in record numbers . ''

A long , hot summer , Andy Murray 's Wimbledon win , the birth of Prince George and blockbuster West Ends shows including `` The Book of Mormon '' were put forward as potential reasons for the surge in tourist numbers , along with the legacy of the Olympics from the year before .

Top London attractions such as the Tower of London and St. Paul 's Cathedral said visitor numbers were `` through the roof '' last summer , with an increase of 17 % on 2012 , the London Evening Standard reported .

St. Paul 's welcomed 353,463 visitors between May and August , up by almost half on 2012 .

Spat turns nasty

All pretty impressive , but it turns out that the source of London 's promotion to top tourist spot was none other than ... French .

Proclaiming `` London dethrones Paris , '' the conservative daily Le Figaro had compared London 's projected 16 million visitors with a 2012 figure of 15.9 million visitors to Paris .

Things have only got nastier since .

Seizing on the comparison , Paris 's right wing mayoral candidate , Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet , claimed the numbers showed Paris 's Socialist administration as failing the city .

That 's just Paris bashing , one of those Socialists , Paris 's deputy mayor Anne Hidalgo , retorted .

Other figures , her office said , revealed Paris still to be beating the sprawling , unsophisticated pretender over La Manche when it comes to pulling in tourists .

Indeed , London is in some ways just a `` suburb '' of the far more attractive French capital , she told reporters .

Paris ` still No. 1 '

`` Like it or not , while London may have attracted more visitors around the Olympic Games , Paris remains the number one world tourist destination , even if we only include foreign visitors and not national ones , '' Hidalgo said .

London was `` boastful '' about its strengths , even deceptive , whereas the French were `` rational '' in their self assessments .

`` London aggressively sells itself ... in a way that goes beyond the truth . We are more rational in our communication when speaking about Paris 's strengths , '' Hidalgo said .

In 2012 , 29 million domestic and foreign tourists visited the wider city of Paris , Hidalgo 's office said .

By contrast , Greater London -- 10 times larger -- pulled in only 27.6 million tourists of all nationalities .

While clearly superior intellectually to Londoners , Parisians could , Hidalgo conceded , appear `` arrogant . ''

`` We could be a bit more amiable , '' she said .

`` I often tell people they must smile more . It costs nothing . ''

Gordon Ramsay weighs in

Parisian spluttering be damned , London and Partners has used its figures to promote a new video campaign , The London Story , in which well known Londoners reveal what they most love about the city .

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay says : `` You ca n't beat a good London curry . I 've been to India but I find curries in Brick Lane -LSB- in the East End -RSB- better .

It 's not just curries .

`` There 's nowhere better in the world to eat than in London , '' says Ramsay .

`` A great thing about London is shopping , '' adds Sixties It girl Twiggy . `` What girl does n't love shopping ? London is the best -- we 've always been the best in fashion . ''

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Figures show London beating Paris as most visited city by tourists last year

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Olympics legacy , royal baby and `` Book of Mormon '' all possible reasons

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Paris decries statistics as `` boastful '' and misleading